Obama makes pitch for health care law

New York Times

Updated 7:14 am, Saturday, May 11, 2013

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama provided a vigorous defense of his health care law Friday, saying he was "110 percent committed" to delivering its benefits on schedule, and he said consumers should not be "bamboozled" by critics spreading misinformation about the law.

Evoking the spirit of Mother's Day, Obama said the law would be particularly beneficial for women, including many in the audience, who whooped and cheered as the president spoke at an event in the East Room of the White House.

In his remarks, Obama was more animated and more specific than he usually is in discussing the law, which was passed in March 2010 without any Republican votes.

"No one can be turned away from private insurance plans," Obama said. "If you're sick, you'll finally have the same chance to buy quality, affordable health care as everybody else." Moreover, he said, "if you lose your job or you change your job or you start that new business, you'll still be able to purchase quality, affordable health care."

Obama made the moral case for universal health insurance coverage, an argument he has often neglected in the past.

"The United States of America does not sentence its people to suffering just because they don't make enough to buy insurance on the private market, just because their work doesn't provide health insurance, just because they fall sick or suffer an accident," Obama said. "That could happen to anybody. And regular access to a doctor or medicine or preventive care — that's not some earned privilege; it is a right."

Obama wound up his speech with a promise: "We're going to keep fighting with everything we've got to secure that right, to make sure that every American gets the care that they need when they need it at a price that they can afford."

Administration officials expressed confidence on Friday that the politics of health care would turn in their favor and that more Americans would support the law after they gained coverage and other tangible benefits.

Republicans have made clear that, in congressional elections next year, they will pillory Democrats for enacting and supporting the law.

"The president has an obligation to warn all Americans about the train wreck that's headed our way," said Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, who is running for a sixth term.